Sawhney, Sardana grab final qualification spots

Gurugram, Mar 1 (PTI) Golfers Aman Sawhney Handicap Category A (0-17) and Manav Sardana - Handicap Category B (18-24) qualified for the National Finals of Mercedes Trophy 2018 on day 3 of the Gurugram leg qualifier here.

Aman and Manav clinched the final two qualification spots available from the leg by carding a nett. score of 70.6 and 72 respectively.

The Mercedes Trophy 2018 has so far seen 37 qualifiers including today who will be competing in the National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from 4 to 6 April.

The best Gross Winner of the day was Kumar Binit with an excellent round of 78 and there were a host of other prizes on offer to be won on the day.

Prominent winners included Phulbag Singh Sodi who won the Ballantines Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 320 yards. Rakesh Singh won the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin contest on hole no. 5 by landing the ball at 8.7 ft. from the pin.

In the Mercedes Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots, Nikhil Agarwal landed the ball at 0.7 inch from the pin to win the contest on hole no. 12. Sanjeev Laroia won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive contest on hole no.7 by landing the ball at 8 inch from the line.

The format of play was Double Peoria. This unique format of adjusting handicaps of players levels the playing field enabling golfers to have a greater chance of qualifying for the National Finals.

A total of 106 golfers competed on Day 3 of MercedesTrophy Gurugram leg. The MercedesTrophy will now move to Noida for the next qualification leg where another six qualification spots will be on offer. The Noida leg will tee off on March 7 at Jaypee Greens Golf Resort